


Message in a bottle

by johnmykawaiiwaifu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-20
Updated: 2012-04-20
Packaged: 2017-11-04 00:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/387728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnmykawaiiwaifu/pseuds/johnmykawaiiwaifu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Neville Longbottom, you have a nice little tree you spend a lot of time near, it makes you feel better when something bad has happened. </p>
<p>And then she shows up, and the tree isn't just yours anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Message in a bottle

There was a tree, a nice, big tree you didn’t know the name of that sat by the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, and bloomed the brightest green in the springs and the strongest red in the falls. That tree was where you went when you were feeling sad or lonely or insignificant, so you ended up spending a lot of time by that tree. You liked the fact that right after Potions class you had a free period, so you could just go sit by it, no matter what anyone else was doing or what the weather was like.

Professor Snape made you feel insignificant.

It seemed like no one else ever came to this tree, and when anyone was anywhere near it you would steer so far away that you were almost on the other side of Hogwarts before you realized you were being ridiculous. It was a tree; other people were allowed to go there too.

But you still didn’t like it when they did. That tree was an escape from all the people saying “Neville, you idiot!” and “Longbottom, were you not listening?” or even worse, “Neville, don’t you have somewhere to be?” Because honestly, you didn’t. Except you always told them yes, because you felt like after hearing that you needed to be at the tree.

Sometimes, when you were feeling extra lonely, you would walk around the lake to the other side, take out a piece of parchment, a cup you’d taken from the latest meal or Potions class and you’d scratch a message onto it with a stick. Then you’d roll it up, stuff it into the cup and float it across the lake. Sometimes you wrote kind things that someone had said to you, and sometimes insults or things that made you feel bad about yourself. Depending on whether it was good or bad, you’d hope it would either float to the other side of the lake or tip over and sink. If it floated when it was good, you were in a better mood for the rest of the day, and same if it sank when it was bad. Other than that, it made you feel even smaller and more insignificant, and if an insult floated all the way to your tree, you’d abandon sitting there until the message had drifted away.

You had never noticed that anyone was watching you, not until a bottle floated up to you one day while you were looking at the clouds and struggling through your Transfiguration homework. You picked it up warily, and looked across the lake to see a girl with blonde hair and Ravenclaw’s blue and bronze tie across the lake. You turned the bottle upside down, tipping the message into your hand. It read, in perfect, curling writing: __

_Need some help with that?_

You stared at the message for a few seconds, blinking. Help with what? And then you spotted your Transfiguration homework. Oh, she was talking about that. You turned the page over, scribbling

_How do I turn Trevor into a cup again?_

You rolled it up as neatly as you could and pushed it across the lake. It reached her, and she pulled it out, reading and writing a quick reply. The bottle was back in front of you within two minutes.

_Trevor?_ You shook your head. You had a feeling Transfiguration was going to have to wait. __

_My toad. What did you bring to Hogwarts?_ You sent it off and, once again, it was returned quickly.

_A bunch of socks._

_Never mind, what’s you name?_

This one look longer to return, and she spent about a minute just motionless. But you could tell, even from across the lake she was just looking at you. It made you feel weird; you didn’t like having the attention on you. But the message did come, and you opened it, glad for a distraction from her gaze.

_Luna Lovegood. What is your name?_

_Neville Longbottom, nice to meet you, Luna._

_Likewise, Neville._ And then a small group of Ravenclaw’s walked over to Luna, spoke in a very quiet yet animated way and she left with them. You thought that would be the last you’d ever hear of Luna Lovegood. But really, it wasn’t. The next time you went to the lake, there was no Luna, but a little bottle with a message inside was carefully arranged next to the tree. You tipped the parchment onto your hand.

_You come here a lot, don’t you?_

You let out a moan. You couldn’t believe this tree was turning into a place where you left each other small talk. But you tried to explain the tree as best as you could. Luna deserved that much, didn’t she?

_I don’t know what it is about this tree, but I like it here. It makes me feel like no one can hurt me._ You thought about scratching that out, but decided against it. _Does that sound stupid?_

You rolled up the piece of paper and slipped it back into the bottle, arranging it in the grass so it wouldn’t roll into the lake. Then you sat against the tree trunk, watching the sky.

“It’s not stupid, Neville.”

You let out a yell, bolting to your feet. You hadn’t even heard her come up. She sat cross legged on the ground, staring at you with an expression almost void of emotion except for a tinge of curiosity. She had a very high pitched, kind of dreamy voice, and you could see a colorful jumper underneath her Hogwarts uniform. Overall, she seemed like an interesting person.

But, let’s be honest, you’re not much for talking to girls.

Not that you don’t _like_ girls or anything, you’re not that type of person, it’s just every time a girl comes up and talks to you (which is not often) you get all nervous. What are you supposed to say to a girl? Tell them they don’t look fat in that Hogwarts uniform? But regardless, Luna seemed too… strange to really be a girl. Well, girls _are_ strange, but not this strange.

You shook you head lightly and sat down next to Luna. All of this girl stuff was confusing you. You didn’t know what to say, so why not just say something about the tree, the only thing you could probably talk about without getting muddled up.

“Well, I suppose I didn’t mean is it ‘stupid’, I wanted to ask more if it seemed childish. A tree, being a place of comfort? Seems a bit… odd.”

“Well, certainly it’s childish.” She said simply. “But that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Everyone needs something childish. Otherwise life just isn’t fun.” Luna said it so matter-of-factly that you just sat there for a few moments, thinking about it. Well, you supposed it was true. Everyone needed that little thing they’d kept their entire life just because they couldn’t bear to let go of it. And if you did let go of it, what would that say about you? Certainly not that you were a very caring person.

“I guess so.” And then that was that. You just sat there with Luna until it was time for the next class, and even when you both went your separate ways to separate classes, you still felt like she was there. And in ways, she was. In the hallways, on the grounds, but she never approached the tree when you were there again. And as the Hogwarts years went on, your schedules changed, free periods came and went and eventually it was almost impossible for you to see her. But, no matter that she wasn’t there, every time you went up to that tree, something was waiting for you there.

Not just memories, but a brand new message in a bottle.


End file.
